canada Archives

Is there equality for students with disabilities when accessing government grants for post-secondary education?

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Students with disabilities are left with greater responsibility in proving their worth.

Higher education can strengthen job opportunities for people with disabilities. Mandy Mou, a PhD candidate within the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, Canada, observed a gap in the literature surrounding equality relating to federal and provincial disability grants for post-secondary education. She undertook a critical discourse analysis, highlighting that in Canada, a neoliberalist culture has led […]

Uncomfortable ethics for autonomous vehicles

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Dr Tripat Gill examines the ethical dilemmas that will face AVs (autonomous vehicles) on the road, and undertook a study which shows that responsibility attribution has an effect on people's decision making.

Self-driving cars, or autonomous vehicles (AVs), are an inevitability on our roads. That’s probably a good thing – most accidents are the result of human error. Ironically, humans will still need to programme the ’thinking’ part of an AV, especially when it’s presented with ethical dilemmas. But how important is this for AV manufacturers? Dr Tripat Gill of Wilfrid Laurier […]

Documenting Japan’s scarecrow village: A living museum to rural life beyond growth

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Professor Atsuko Hashimoto researches the use of tourism to rejuvenate declining rural communities in Japan, highlighting the case of Nagoro, a village where scarecrows memorialise previous residents but currently outnumber the present residents

An ageing society and rural depopulation are ongoing issues in Japan. At Brock University, Canada, Dr Atsuko Hashimoto, Dr David J Telfer, and Sakura Telfer (Brescia University College) explore the use of tourism to rejuvenate rural communities. The remote village of Nagoro (Shikoku Island) has less than 30 residents remaining, most of whom are over the age of 70. Thanks […]

Transitional care programs for older adults: Improving Canada’s core health services

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Dr Lori Weeks and colleagues conducted a study into the provision of transitional care programs in Canada and abroad, highlighting the need to build these services into the core healthcare system

Transitional care programs are critical for ensuring better health management and continuity of care, oftentimes when older adult patients are required to move between healthcare services and settings and are most vulnerable to worse health outcomes. Transitional care programs are also found to be beneficial in reducing acute-care health resources and costs in countries around the world, however, for numerous […]

The uses of social power in early childhood

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Dr Sandra Della Porta conducted a study into the use of social power in family dynamics, specifically in conflict situations with more than three family members

Dr Sandra Della Porta from Brock University in Ontario, Canada, investigates the use of social power in early childhood. Her most recent research demonstrates how children’s use and effectiveness of power strategies develops over time, but can also be influenced by birth order. The study involved analysis of naturally occurring family conflict, to ensure complex family dynamics such as parent–child […]

The M-Factor: An experiential learning student competition

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The M-Factor competition provided an experiential learning opportunity for engineering students.

How might the format of reality TV shows be adapted to the academic environment to help engineering students develop management skills? That was the aim of a research project devised by Professor Theomary Karamanis, from Cornell University in New York in the United States, and Professor Allan MacKenzie, from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. The findings show that not only […]

Blood–brain communication: Essential for regulation of autonomic nervous system and optimal health?

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Professor Alastair V Ferguson researches blood–brain communication and s has focused on understanding how our brain controls many critical variables – including glucose, oxygen, blood pressure and electrolytes to maintain optimal body function and avoid issues with hypertension or obesity.

Professor Alastair V Ferguson leads an interdisciplinary neuroscience research group at Queens University in Canada, studying the central nervous system with a specific focus on understanding changes in brain function associated with hypertension and obesity. More specifically, the group’s recent studies have focused on understanding how our brain controls many critical variables – including glucose, oxygen, blood pressure and electrolytes […]

Towards more equitable money creation

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Professor Peter Dietsch highlights a number of biases in the current monetary system that allow for a bias against those who are less well-off

Money creation should be governed with an eye on ethics, but its current path follows an unfair formula that entrenches injustice. Philosopher and economist Professor Peter Dietsch of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, points out a number of biases in the current monetary system. He suggests a normative framework for assessing what a more equitable money creation system […]

The HIBAR Research Alliance: Reinvigorating research for the 21st century

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How can the research ecosystem be improved so that it better contributes to solving the critical problems facing society today? That’s the motivating question behind an alliance of universities and other research organisations which believes that an answer lies in carrying out more Highly Integrative Basic And Responsive (HIBAR) research projects – efforts that are both basic and use-inspired, and […]

Antibiotic resistance in enterobacteria from pigs

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Antibiotic resistance is a global threat affecting humans, pets, livestock and plants. As antibiotic usage to prevent infections is commonplace in livestock farming, there is a significant pressure to adopt alternative farming practices. Dr Dominic Poulin-Laprade and her colleagues at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, investigated how antibiotic-free farming practices affected the presence of […]